Second Chance with the Half-Elf

She left fifteen years ago without a word.
Now she’s back — and I’m supposed to pretend I don’t still taste her name in the salt.

She’s here to photograph the festival. I’m the Harbor Master now. The docks answer to me. So does she.

She thinks we’re playing nice.
I remember every kiss, every bruise, every breathless night under the lighthouse stairs.

And I’m not interested in closure. I’m interested in remaking her from the inside out.

The town thinks I’ve moved on.
They don’t see the box I keep under my bed.
The compass she gave me. The photo she forgot.
They don’t know how long I’ve been sharpening this ache into something she can’t outrun.

She’s haunted. Angry. Still so goddamn beautiful it makes me cruel.
But this time, she’s not leaving.
She’s staying until I finish what she started.

She may have rebuilt the house. But I’m going to wreck the bed.

Read on for grumpy x grumpy, second chance obsession, coastal town heat, and a half-elf harbor master who never forgets the girl who ran. HEA Guaranteed!